


Just Between Us

by wewriteletters



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Plus some fluff, just take a shot every time you see the word "friend" it's a problem, they play trivial pursuit together it's a fun time!, written before She
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 15:58:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13573941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wewriteletters/pseuds/wewriteletters
Summary: Shaun needs a friend. And Claire is there for him.





	Just Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not super proud of this but I wanted to post it before the new episode so shrug. But listen if the actual show won't give us Shaun and Claire talking about their feelings I will! This story takes place the day after Shaun and Glassman's talk at the end of Seven Reasons.

Claire twirled the pen around in her index finger, finally letting it rest on her lower lip as it spun to a stop. She found herself absentmindedly chewing on the lid, a bad habit she had had picked up in grade school that seemed to plague her even when she took exams in med school. No sense in trying to break it now. She had just finished filling out discharge papers for one of her patients, and was now leaning against the desk at the nurses station, watching the seconds tick by on the clock hanging above. Her shift ended in five minutes, then she was off for a good twelve hours. 

The day had been fairly uneventful at the hospital, especially given the roller coaster Claire had been on with her last patient. Compared to all that Claire had dealt with yesterday, a day full of scratchy throats, stitches, and one appendectomy seemed completely mundane. Claire was almost relieved at it. Normally, as a resident so eager to learn and see the most complicated and cutting edge procedures, a day like today would have felt like pure torture. But now, she needed a break. Especially since she knew the calm wouldn’t last, couldn’t last. The storm was on its way.

Claire glanced over her shoulder to survey the nearly empty OR. Jared had gone upstairs to restock the supply closet; more scut-work Melendez assigned to him as punishment for getting fired, then, subsequently, rehired. Melendez himself was nowhere to be seen either. The attendee was probably talking with his fiance. Or ex-fiance now, Claire supposed. The couple had apparently only split a few days ago, but by now the entire hospital had heard the news, down to the cafeteria workers and parking attendants. It was hard to keep much under wraps when it involved two of the hospitals most important people. 

Shaun was the only one still here. Sitting on one of the rolling stools, he slowly pushed it back and forth ever so slightly with the balls of his feet on the ground. He was always hard to read, but Claire thought she could see the boredom in his face. Even Shaun, who was usually so excited about even the simplest cases, seemed out of it today. It was slightly worrying to Claire.

He had come in late again this morning. Melendez had been too preoccupied, probably with his own issues, to reprimand him or even really notice. But Claire had picked up on everything. Shaun’s eyes were red and he looked exhausted. For a brief moment Claire wondered if Shaun had actually been crying or if he just hadn’t gotten enough sleep. A feeling in the pit of her stomach brought her to the realization that it was probably both. 

She hadn’t seen him much for the rest of the day; he and Jared had taken care of the ER while she got to scrub in on the appendectomy with one of the general surgeons. Claire had been worried, she didn’t think she had ever seen Shaun look so upset. He was usually so in control of his emotions, so the fact that he seemed to be letting down his defenses like this made her even more concerned. During lunch, she had asked Jared how he had been acting, but Jared just said he had been to busy trying not to offended Melendez to even notice Shaun.

That hadn’t exactly been reassuring and when she finally saw Shaun again later in the afternoon, his state seemed even worse than before. Claire was thankful Melendez was too busy hovering over Jared to pay any mind to Shaun. Otherwise he probably would have gotten an earful about “leaving your personal issues at home.” Claire might have laughed at the irony, but Shaun didn’t deserve to feel worse than it seemed he already did. 

Now, watching Shaun just sit there, it seemed like the perfect time to actually talk to him herself. Shaun looked only slightly better, his eyes were no longer red, but he still had an air of sadness to him. Would he appreciate being approached? Shaun didn’t seem the type to want to share his emotions, but it felt wrong to just let her friend sit there when he was obviously in pain. So she handed the nurse her paperwork and walked across the tile floor to where Shaun was sitting and offered him a smile.

“Hey Shaun. Mind if I sit down?” She asked, glancing at another one of the tools tucked in the corner.

“If you would like to,” Shaun replied, not even looking up from his hands. He continued to push the stool back and forth; Claire could now hear the wheels squeaking on the linoleum. She smiled again and went to pull up her own stool.

“How have you been? I feel like we haven’t talked in so long. I mean you were gone for those two days this week and then we kept getting put on different cases so it’s just ….auggh!” Claire didn’t even know what that last sound was. She kind of sucked at this whole “comforting a friend” thing. 

Luckily it seemed like Shaun didn’t even register Claire’s awkwardness. He had turned his head towards her, which was a start, but he wasn’t looking at her, he was staring at the elevator across the hall. Did he want to leave? Maybe he had plans with Doctor Glassman and he was waiting for him to come down.

“Oh, are you waiting for Glassman? You guys doing something tonight?”

This comment made Shaun turn his head sharply back to his lap, a new wave of sadness seeming to take over his expression.

Had Claire said something wrong?

“Shaun...Are you okay?” She asked tentatively. Maybe she should just give him some space. If he still seemed off when she next saw him at work, she’d try to talk to him again. It felt wrong to leave him, but it also felt wrong to continue to talk to him when he obviously wasn’t interested. 

Nearly a minute went by without Shaun answering. Finally Claire stood up, giving Shaun another smile.  
“You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t feel like it, Shaun. I understand. I hope you feel better. And you can always text me if you need to talk to someone.” She squirmed slightly, still feeling weird about leaving Shaun in this state. “I hope your night gets better.”

Claire stood and turned to walk towards the elevator so she could get her things from the locker room, when a voice stopped her.

“Are you my friend, Claire?”

She turned immediately, a bit surprised at the question. Why would Shaun even ask her that? 

“Of course I’m your friend Shaun! I-is there a reason you’re asking?”

“Doctor Glassman doesn’t want to be my friend,” Shaun said, still not looking up. “And Lea is in Pennsylvania. So now I have no one.”

“I…” Claire wasn’t able to finish her sentence. The two nurses on duty for the night were staring at them, eyebrows raised, intrigued at the prospect of getting some new gossip for the morning shift. Claire really didn’t want to talk about this here.

“Shaun...Would you like to come over to my place for dinner?”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sorry about the mess, if I had known I was gonna invite you over I definitely would have cleaned up.” 

Claire pushed the laundry hamper sitting by the door over with her foot. She had meant to take it down to the washing machines that morning, but had forgotten about in her haste to get to work. Quickly glancing around the room, she breathed a sigh of relief that, besides the rouge hamper, her apartment was in fairly decent order. It wasn’t like she was overtly messy, but some nights it was easier to leave folded laundry on the couch and not bother doing the dishes. 

She didn’t even know why she was being so paranoid about Shaun seeing her skills as a housekeeper. It’s not like he would ever judge her for it. Maybe it was because she had seen his locker at work and knew that no matter how neat her apartment was, Shaun’s was probably a hundred times more so. 

“Your apartment is bigger than mine,” Shaun noted, glancing around. If he noticed or cared about the lack or organization, he made no mention.

Claire laughed, half because she didn’t really know how to reply to Shaun’s comment, and half because she was just glad he was actually talking. After agreeing to come over, Shaun had spent the entire car ride in silence. It made Claire feel miserable, like she couldn’t even do anything to help him perk up. 

“I doubt by that much,” Claire replied, setting her purse on the kitchen counter. “This place was at the top of my budget. Real estate in San Jose is insane. I’m pretty sure you couldn’t buy a shoe box downtown for any less than five grand a month.”

“The bedroom is in the living room in my apartment,” Shaun continued. “Yours is in another room.” He gestured to the closed door to their right, past her television set. “And I know that isn’t the bathroom or the closet because we walked past those rooms when we came in. So most likely, it is a bedroom.”

“Well you’d be correct. I promise, it’s nothing special; I barely had the space in there to fit my mattress.”

Shaun nodded, continuing to take in his surroundings. “My television is bigger than yours,” he finally said, as if that meant he won this imaginary competition between their two apartments.

“Well you can host me next time,” Claire said, rounding the counter so she was standing in the kitchen. “We can watch something together next time we have a night off. Wanna sit down?”

Claire gestured to one of the bar stools set up against the counter. As Shaun sat, she busied herself looking through the fridge. Claire wanted to ask him about the comments he had made at the hospital, but decided it might be better for them both to get settled before she brought it up. Shaun seemed just the tiniest bit happier, and she wasn’t ready to ruin it. Even though she desperately wished she knew what was wrong. So she could fix it. 

“I have...some chicken and a frozen pizza and some leftovers from this Mexican place? Or we could order Chinese? I think I have a flyer somewhere…”

“I like pancakes,” Shaun mumbled. He had begun to play with a loose tile corner. It seemed to take up most of his attention. Claire deflated. The pain seemed to have crawled back into Shaun’s face. Claire didn’t know what to say, but she did know she needed to talk to him. 

“Well I don’t know if mine would be very good. I’m more of a “uses the microwave” for everything type of cook.” She leaned down and propped herself up by her elbows on the counter. “Why don’t I call that Chinese place? My treat.” She hesitated slightly. “And then, we can talk.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
“Shaun you are WRONG. There is absolutely no way that is the correct answer!”

“It is the correct answer. Read the card!” Shaun gestured excitedly to the white paper Claire held in her hand, a prideful smiling beginning to grow on his face. Claire rolled her eyes, flipped it over and made a big show of glancing down at the answer side. Sure enough, Shaun was right.

“Okay well I guess this is what I get for playing Trivial Pursuit with a literal genius. My mistake.” Claire set the card in the discard pile and took another bite of her sweet and sour chicken.“Who knew the scientific name for a rabbit's tale is “scut”? Does that mean when Melendez assigns us “scut work” he’s actually assigning us “bunny tail work”? Because if it was called that, I think I’d enjoy it much more.”

“I knew it,” Shaun replied. “I knew the answer.” His small smile grew a bit, which just made Claire’s already wide smile grow even wider. While waiting for the food to arrive, Claire suggested the two of them play a game. It wasn’t that she wanted to avoid talking to Shaun, she just thought it might be easier if the two of them had a chance to wind down a bit. And surprisingly, Shaun seemed eager to partake. He went to the closet where Claire kept the various board games she had collected from yard sales and thrift stores over the years, and pulled out a worn copy of Trivial Pursuit. Claire honestly didn’t even remembering buying the game, but she supposed that was how it was with board games. Sometimes you just find one sitting with the others, as if it had always been there, even though you swore you had never bought The Simpsons version of Operation.

Either way, they had been playing for the past hour and Shaun had thoroughly kicked Claire’s butt, six wedges to her three. And answering the rabbit question correctly meant he had now won the whole thing. Claire clapped, accepting defeat.

“Wow Shaun, congratulations! Next time, we should invite Jared. I need someone to lose so I can feel good about coming in second place.”

“You did a good job, Claire,” Shaun replied softly. “You got that question about the dog on My Three Sons correctly.”

“Well I didn’t have cable growing up, so the only thing I ever watched were reruns of that and Leave It to Beaver. I’m shocked I even remembered the dogs name.”

Shaun picked up his carton of rice and finished the remainders. Claire sighed and leaned her head back. He seemed much happier now, especially thinking back to how distraught he had been in the morning. Maybe this was how they should end the night. With Shaun smiling, high off his victory. If she brought up what he had asked her, she would ruin it. She should just get out some ice cream for dessert, tell him they should hang out again sometime soon, and drive him home. 

But what if after she waved goodbye, Shaun walked inside his apartment, closed the door, and broke down crying? What if he didn’t get any sleep that night? What if the next day, Shaun came into work bags under his eyes, cheeks red, and Claire hadn’t done anything to even help him?

She spoke before she could chicken out.

“Hey um, Shaun I was wondering if we could talk about what you said to me at the hospital? When you asked me if I was your friend...And you told me that you don’t have anyone.” Claire cringed slightly at the last part of what she said.

Shaun stared at his now empty takeout container, smile diseapering. Claire quickly tried to say something to help.

“Like, obviously we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I don’t want you to feel like you’re alone. I am always here if you need someone. You’re my friend Shaun, and I hope you consider me a friend as well.”

Shaun remained silent. Claire was on a roll, she couldn’t stop now, even if she wanted to. 

“And I don’t know what happened between you and Doctor Glassman, but I’m sure you just misunderstood. Glassman loves you, probably more than anyone else, of course he wants to be your friend! And I’m sorry that you miss Lea, but you know you guys could always call or text? Oh, what if I help you set up a Skype account? Then you and Lea can face time, and you can see her whenever you want! I don’t want you to feel alone, Shaun, because you aren’t. You have me and Jared and hell even Melendez! We all care about you so much, we’re your friends.”

It wasn’t very articulate, but Claire felt it was necessary. She was gonna make sure Shaun knew he had her for support even if it meant keeping him here overnight while she repeated the pep talk a hundred times. Shaun was not going to go home tonight feeling like he had no one. 

And when he felt better, Claire silently hoped that maybe he could help her as well. They could help each other. Because God only knew Claire could use a friend now as well. 

Claire stood, picking up their trash and walking towards the kitchen to throw it away. Maybe giving Shaun some space to process everything she just dumped on him was wise. As she tossed the empty take out containers in the garbage can, a voice broke through the silence.

“Is this just between us?”

Claire glanced at Shaun from the kitchen. He was mostly obscured by the couch, but she could see the top of his hair peeking out. 

“Of course, Shaun. I would never tell anyone anything that you told me if you didn’t want me to.”

She returned to the living room and sat down cross legged across from Shaun, repeating his words: “Just between us.”

Shaun chewed on his lip, as if that would help him articulate what he wanted to say.“Doctor Glassman missed breakfast with me on Monday.”

Claire nodded, not really sure what that had to do with anything. But then she remembered how happy Shaun had seemed when she asked if he wanted to have breakfast with her. Was it because he was still reeling from Glassman’s rejection? 

“I’m sorry Shaun, but I’m sure had a reason. I mean he is president of the hospital, he probably just isn’t available every single Monday. It had nothing to do with you at all. Just wait, come next Monday, he’ll be waiting in the cafeteria for you, I’m sure of it.”

Shaun shook his head. “He told me we couldn’t do it anymore.”

Claire bunched her nose in confusion. “Was that exactly what he said?” 

“He said he didn’t think we could have breakfast together on Monday’s anymore,” Shaun repeated. The hurt in his words was apparent and raw. Claire’s heart squeezed in sympathy as she listened. 

“Well Shaun, you’re always welcome to have breakfast with me.” It was all Claire could muster. She really didn’t understand why Glassman would say all that to Shaun. She thought they were about as close as two people could be. Everyone had heard the rumors of the impassioned speech Glassman gave when the board tried to block Shaun’s hiring. Every version of the story she heard had gotten more and more outlandish: “Glassman fell to the ground crying!” “He threatened to leak the board's decision to the press if they didn’t hire Murphy” “I heard that the only reason the board decided to hire him is that Doctor Glassman promised to resign if the kid screwed up.” While Claire doubted any of those grandiose tales had been true, Shaun had once offhandedly mentioned how Glassman had helped him get his spot in the residency program. It was hard to think that the same man who was so confident in Shaun’s abilities that he was willing to fight the entire hospital board was now not even willing to take Shaun out for pancakes once a week. 

Shaun didn’t reply to her offer. He squirmed uncomfortably and picked up his Trivial Pursuit game piece, slowly removing the pie slices and putting them back in with great precision. It took a few moments but finally he said: “Doctor Glassman was acting like this is what I wanted. Because I told him I didn’t want a therapist...I want space. But I still want a friend.”

It looked like Shaun was struggling to articulate how he was feeling; each of his words lacked the confidence he always spoke with when discussing medicine, and he paused more than a few times. Claire couldn’t blame him; she was having a hard time following Glassman’s logic herself. 

“And Doctor Glassman doesn’t want to be your friend.” Claire couldn’t tell if what she was saying was a statement or a question. Either way, the words felt wrong.

Claire guessed this was what had been causing Shaun so much distress lately. It pained her to think that the remnants of tears in his eyes that morning had been over the man who supposedly cared about him more than anyone else. Claire hadn’t even realized how alone Shaun felt. He never made much effort to hang out with her or Jared outside of work and she had always just assumed he enjoyed being by himself. But everyone needed a friend. 

Shaun nodded. “He thinks we can't have that kind of relationship. I don’t know why. I don’t understand why. It’s frustrating.”

Claire could hear the strain in Shaun’s voice, as if the words hurt to say. As if he didn’t want to admit how upset Glassman had made him feel. 

“I can imagine.” Claire began absentmindedly putting the Trivial Pursuit cards back in the box, needing something else to do so her mind wasn’t solely focused on Shaun’s voice slowly breaking. “Maybe you should try talking to him again? Explain how you feel.” 

Shaun shook his head, looking uncomfortable at the mere suggestion. “I do not want to do that.”

“Well, maybe I could help more if I knew exactly why Doctor Glassman is behaving in this way. Can you tell me what changed? What do you think happened that upset him?” 

It was all she could do to not ask the question that had been burning in her mind since he came back: “Shaun, why did you run away?” Even the question she did pose almost seemed like she was overstepping her boundaries, but she didn’t care. Claire recalled that when the two of them were waiting on CT scans, Shaun had mentioned that Glassman was mad at him and when she asked why, he never replied. She wanted to know the answer. She wanted to help Shaun.

Shaun didn’t answer right away; he continued to play with the trivial pursuit piece. When he finally spoke, Claire leaned forward slightly to give his response her full attention.

“I didn’t want a therapist. And Doctor Glassman wouldn’t leave me alone about the issue. I was upset and Lea said I needed to take a “good old fashioned road trip.” So we went on one. I don’t think Doctor Glassman liked that.”

Claire instantly remembered her conversation with Glassman in the elevator, the day Shaun came back. She had told him: “I think he might that you’re mad at him.” Had she been correct? Was Glassman mad at Shaun? For refusing his help, for running away, for saying no. Was this a punishment?

Claire tried to push the thought out of her head. Glassman was not cruel. He wouldn’t ever punish Shaun for something like this, not in this way. That was ridiculous. But looking at Shaun, Claire wondered if the very same thought was running through his head. 

“I believe that it’s important for one to take a break when things get overwhelming. You didn’t do anything wrong Shaun. I mean, maybe you should have told someone where you went but it’s not like you were hurting anything.”

“I hurt Doctor Glassman. If things were really okay, he’d be my friend.” 

“Well, I think Doctor Glassman is being unreasonable. And stubborn. Just because you don’t want him breathing down your neck doesn’t mean you don’t want to be close anymore. Just give him a week or two to come around.” Claire hoped the confidence she projected into her voice registered with Shaun. She wasn’t really feeling that confident, in fact she almost felt as if she was lying to him. What did she know about Glassman or his relationship with Shaun? 

Claire liked helping people. She liked giving advice. And she always thought she was good at it. She could think of at least a dozen subjects Shaun had asked for her help with since he began working at the hospital. Flirting, lying, talking with patients. So why was this subject different? Why did she feel like she was crossing some invisible line in giving her input? Why did she feel like everything she was saying was wrong?

“I want Doctor Glassman to be my friend,” Shaun mumbled, finally putting the Trivial Pursuit piece down in favor of wringing his hands. “I want a friend. I miss Lea.”

Claire wilted in sympathy. Shaun’s face had returned to that broken expression that had clung to him like a mask all day. What he said to her at the hospital began to run through her mind. 

_“Doctor Glassman doesn’t want to be my friend. And Lea is in Pennsylvania. So now I have no one.” ___

____

____

Claire realized she actually knew very little about Lea. She knew she had been Shaun’s neighbor and that she moved to Pennsylvania. She know that she and Shaun had gone on a road trip together. She knew they had kissed. But Claire knew nothing else, nothing about her personality or how long she and Shaun were friends or even her last name. 

But then again, she did know how much Lea meant to Shaun. And that was probably enough. 

Claire must have been lost in her own thoughts for too long because Shaun was the one who spoke next. “What did you mean when you said Lea wasn’t the only one who could make me happy?”

She looked up at Shaun’s eyes. They had begun to water and turn red around the edges. Claire realized that, although she had seen the remnants of tears this morning, she had never actually see Shaun cry. It hurt her to think about how close he was to breaking out into sobs in her living room. 

“Oh,” Claire said softly, tugging on a strand of hair that had fallen from behind her ear. It took her a second to remember the conversation Shaun was referring to, but it was soon playing in her mind, clear as a bell. Shaun telling her he was moving to Hershey, Claire telling him that she would miss him. It had only happened a few days goes ago and Claire probably would have thought about it more, especially considering Shaun had stayed, if she hadn’t felt so overwhelmed with everything else going on. 

“Well,” Claire continued after a pause. “I just meant that there are other things...and people...in San Jose that could still make you happy. That you didn’t need to follow Lea to Pennsylvania because you already have so much here. I mean, you’re in one of the best residency programs in the entire country. There are other things...that aren’t Lea.” 

“I wasn’t going to Hershey because of Lea.”

“Come on Shaun, you hate lying. Don’t do it to yourself.” Claire worried for a second if that was too harsh, but Shaun didn’t seem offended. If anything, the comment seemed to actually resonate with him. Shaun let out a shaky breath and she watched his eyes slowly dart down to his lap, then to the ceiling, finally landing on her. 

“Why did you say you would miss me?”

Claire almost laughed at the question, it seemed too obvious. “Because I would have missed you Shaun.” 

The turn of the conversation had made Claire shift. Why was Shaun asking her about this? She really hadn’t thought about what kind of impact her words had had on Shaun. After all, he hadn’t gone to Pennsylvania, but she always figured it was because Glassman talked to him or Lea insisted that he stay. She hadn’t even thought of him taking what she said to heart, at least not the extent of it actually changing his mind. The thought of that filled her with simultaneous joy that Shaun cared about what she had to say that much and dread that she might be the reason he lost someone so important to him. If she hadn’t looked him in the eye and said “I’m gonna miss you” would Shaun be sitting with Lea in Hershey right now, instead of in her living room? 

Had she done the wrong thing?

“Shaun, if you really wanted to go with Lea, you could have. Was there...a reason you changed your mind?”

Claire hated herself for asking that. It seemed cruel, especially because it felt like she was only asking him to soothe her own anxiety over the idea that he only stayed because of what she said to him. 

“I talked to you,” Shaun said and Claire deflated, her worst suspensions slowly being proven correct. “And I decided you were right. Lea isn’t the only thing that makes me happy. You make me happy too.” He hesitated and looked down. “I didn’t want you to have to miss me.” 

It made Claire stop. Shaun continued on.

“I don’t think I regret staying. I don’t think Lea wanted me to go with her.” Shaun pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He said the next part slowly. “And you are right. I only wanted to go to Hershey because I wanted to be with Lea. ”

Shaun’s words pierced Claire and she felt a pain in her chest growing. She honestly didn’t know how to respond. Shaun stayed in San Jose because of what she said. And yet, he wasn’t upset about it, was he?

“Shaun, I’m glad you stayed.” Claire was painfully aware of how her voice cracked on the last word. “And I was telling the truth. I would have missed you. So much. ”

Even thinking about the idea of Shaun moving across the country upset Claire. She knew they had only known each other for around two months, but she couldn’t imagine any dynamic at the hospital without him. 

"I still miss Lea. But you were right. I didn't need to go to Hershey to be happy," Shaun hummed. 

"It's okay to miss Lea," Claire said. "She is your friend still. Even if she's in another state. You know that right?"

Shaun nodded and Claire hopped her words actually resonated with him. She made a mental note to actually help him set up a Skype so he and Lea could talk. It was the least she could do.

“You’re my friend Claire.” He continued. “You said you are my friend. And you wanted to help me feel better. And that is what a friend should do.” It almost sounded like Shaun was trying to explain the entire concept to himself. “I needed a friend tonight and you were here for me.”

If it had been anyone else speaking, Claire would have swooshed forward and wrapped them in a hug. But she knew Shaun would not appreciate that, so she simply smiled. 

“Well, how would you like to have breakfast with me this Monday?" Claire asked after a moment. "I'm no Doctor Glassman, but I think I'm pretty good company. And it's something friends do. They have breakfast together." 

Shaun wasn't smiling yet, but his face was not clouded by the slight sorrow it had had just a few minutes ago. "Okay. I think I would like that. Thank you, Claire."

"It's my pleasure. Are you feeling better now?"

“Yes. I think I am.” 

“Well, in that case, how do you feel about another game of Trivial Pursuit?” Claire smirked. “This time, I won’t go so easy on you.”

Shaun’s face lit up. “Oh no, I beat you fair and square.”

“We’ll see about that," Claire said, a hint of sass in her voice. "Hand me the card deck.” 

As Shaun eagerly began setting up the game pieces again, Claire observed that the tears had retreated from his eyes. He looked much more at peace, as if a heavy weight had finally been removed from his shoulders. Claire knew that tonight hadn’t fixed everything. Shaun would still have to figure out how to balance his relationship with Doctor Glassman and deal with his unresolved feelings for Lea. But he didn’t have to cope with everything alone.

He would always have a friend in Claire.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this fic included a scene where Claire told Shaun about everything that happened with Coyle, but I couldn't find a place where I felt it really fit so I might end up writing another story that deals with that and posting it later as a sort of sequel. Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Lets hope we actually get some Shaun and Claire scenes in the new episode.


End file.
